Loading device



W. F. BORGERD LOADING DEVICE July 6, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 15, 1951 NW Rh mm N July 1954 w. F. BORGERD 2,682,960

LOADING DEVICE Filed Oct. 15, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 William i'jor erd a Ifl Patented July 6, 1 954 LOADING DEVICE William F. Borgerd, Evansville, Ind., assignor to International Harvester Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application October 15, 1951, Serial No. 251,379

This invention relates generally to a loading device and more particularly to a device for lifting a motor-compressor assembly from an airconditioning unit.

Many refrigeration systems are being equipped with an electric motor and compressor fashioned as one integral unit and hermetically sealed in a common casing. In the larger capacity refrigeration systems, such as employed in an air-conditioning unit for a home, the motor-compressor assembly is usually of such size and weight that it is difficult for one person to remove the assembly from the unit. When servicing of the motor-compressor assembly is needed, it is generally necessary to remove the motor-compressor from the casing and take it to a suitable shop for repairs. If the assembly is too heavy for one man to lift from the unit, the services of two men will be required for the job, thus causing servicing of the unit to be difficult and costly. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a loading device which will overcome these difficulties.

One object of the present invention is to provide a loading device which facilitates the removal of a heavy piece'of machinery from a casing.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a loading fork which enables one person to lift a motor-compressor assembly from a:

to be positioned so that a hooked portion of the loading fork engages the pin for raising the assembly from the unit.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a collar adapted to be fastened over the top of the motor-compressor assembly and which is provided with a link for engaging the loading fork. 7

Another object of the invention is to provide the loading fork with an elongated portion along which the motor-compressor assembly can be slid, after it has been lifted from the casing.

The invention, together with the above and other objects and advantages thereof, will be more. fully understood from the following description taken in connection with the accom- 3 Claims. (Cl. 214-130) panying drawings forming a part of this specification, and of which:

Fig. 1 is a side vertical section of an air-conditioning unit embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1 with the loading fork inserted into the unit.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the collar and loading link before it is fastened to the motorcompressor assembly.

Fig. 4 is a front elevational view of the support bar.

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a portion of the unit showing the motor-compressor assembly in readiness for removal from the unit.

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view of a portion of the unit after the motor-compressor unit has been raised from the unit by the loading fork.

Referring to the drawings for a detailed de scription of the invention, an air-conditioning unit it] is shown secured to the outer surface of a building wall II. An opening I2 is provided in the wall H and a removable door It is adapted to close the opening. Unit IE] comprises a housing l4 having a frame l5, bottom wall It, rear wall ll, front wall It, top wall l9, and end walls '29 and 2|. The frame I5 comprises channel members 22, 23, 24, and which are joined together in any suitable manner such as by welding. Front wall [8 is secured to top wall is and channel 23 by screws 26 in order that it can be easily removed when desired. End walls 29 and 2| are each provided with an opening therethrough with screens 28 and 29 secured therein for the purpose of preventing foreign objects from entering the casing M. Three brackets 30 are secured to channel 25 with a lower leg of each fastened to wall [I by a bolt 3| and nut 32. The upper portion of rear wall I! is fastened to wall H by several bolts 33 and nuts 34.

Secured within casing is is a refrigerant condenser 35 and an electric motor 35 having a fan 31 connected thereto which draws outside air through screen 28 and expels it through screen 29 when the electric motor is operating. A plate 38, having downturned edge portions 39 and 40, is secured to bottom wall It in any suitable manner, as by welding the edge portions thereto. Mounted upon plate 38 is motor-compressor assembly 4| having several bolts 52 secured to the lower end, each bolt being provided with a resilient pad 43 upon which the assembly rests. Plate 38 is provided withspaced apart holes 45 through which the bolts 42 extend, and nuts, 45

are threaded onto the bolts to secure the assembly 4| to the plate.

The motor-compressor assembly 4| comprises an electric motor and a compressor hermetically sealed within a casing having a refrigerant inlet 46 and outlet 41. The outlet 41 is connected to one end of conduit 48 by joint 49 and the other end of the conduit is connected to the inlet of condenser 35. The outlet of the condenser 35 is connected to conduit 50 which extends through an opening 52 above door l3 into the building. A refrigerant evaporator, not shown, may be positioned inside the building with conduit 58 connected thereto. The evaporator outlet is connected to conduit which extends through opening 52 and is joined to the motor-compressor inlet 45 by joint 53. During the refrigeration cycle, compressed refrigerant is forwarded from motorcompressor assembly 4| by conduit 48 to condenser 35 where it is cooled and condensed by outside air being circulated by fan 31. The condensed refrigerant is then conveyed by conduit 5|], through the evaporator, and then returned to the motor-compressor 4| by conduit 5|. By circulating room air into contact with the evaporator, the building will be cooled to adesired temperature.

Rigidly fastened to the channel 23 is a support bar 54 having downturned end portions 55 and 56 which are welded to the inturned leg of the channel 23. Two spaced apart brackets 51 are secured to the outer casing of the motor-compressor assembly 4|, preferably below the center of ravity of the assembly. Each bracket is provided with a curved portion 58, which fits against the casing, and an outwardly extending leg 55 which is provided with an aperture 50 therethrough.

During normal operation of the refrigeration system, front cover I8 is held securely in position by screws 25. When servicing of the unit is required, the screws 25 are removed and the cover it is detached from the unit H! in order to provide access into housing |4. As mentioned heretofore, a motor-compressor assembly of sufficient size to condition the air of a residential building will be quite heavy and it will be difficult for one person to remove or replace the assembly. In the present invention, a loading fork 5| is provided to enable one person to remove or replace the assembly. The fork 5| comprises two longitudinally extending handle portions 52 and 53 which are held in spaced relationship by transverse members or braces 54 and 65. One end of longitudinal portion 62 is provided with an upturned hook portion 55 and the corresponding end of longitudinal portion 63 is provided with an identical upturned hook portion 61. Secured to the lower edge of each horizontal portion is a triangular shaped support 88 having two upstanding legs 69 and 10 which are connected by a web portion 1|. The web portion 1| is provided with a semicircular recessed portion or groove 12 which is adapted to fit over support bar 54.

After front cover H3 is removed, a cross pin 13 is slipped through apertures 60 of brackets 51. Loading fork 5| is then inserted into the casing l4 with the grooves 12 of supports 68 resting upon support bar 54 and the hooked portions 66 and 61 engaging cross pin 13 as shown in Fig. 2. Next a collar 14 is slipped over the upper end of the motor-compressor assembly 4| and is secured thereto by tightening the nut 15 of clamp bolt 16. As best seen in Fig. 3, the end portions 11 and 18 of the collar 14 are bent at an angle thereto and are provided with apertures 19 and therethrough which slidably receive a cross pin 8|. A U-shaped loading link 82, having looped end portions 83 and 84 with apertures therethrough, is joined to the collar 14 by cross pin 8| after the link has been slipped around the longitudinal portions 52 and 63 of the loading fork 5|. The parts are now connected in the manner best shown in Fig. 5 of the drawing. Nuts 45 are removed from bolts 42, and the compressors inlet 46 and outlet 41 are disconnected from conduits 5| and 48 by breaking joints 53 and 49 so that the motorcompressor assembly 4| is free to be removed from the casing M.

In the illustrated embodiment, an automobile truck body floor is represented by reference numeral 85 and it is contemplated that the truck be backed in close to the casing I4. The person who is removing the assembly 4| may grasp the outer ends of longitudinal portions 62 and 63 of the loading fork 6| and bear downwardly toward the truck floor 85. The fork 5| will rotate about support rod 54 and the assembly will be lifted by hook portions 55 and 51. Since the distance from support bar 54 to the hooked portions is small compared with the distance from the support bar to the outer ends of longitudinal portions 62 and 63, the fork 8| will act as a lever and enable one person to lift a motor-compressor assembly of great weight. As the fork 6| is rotated about the sup-port bar 54, loading link 82 will hold the top portion of the assembly 4| at a fixed distance from the fork until the center of gravity of the assembly has been moved to the left of cross pin 13, whereupon the assembly will rotate about the pin to the position shown in Fig. 6. After rotating the fork to a position with the longitudinal portions 52 and 63 resting upon the truck bed 65, loading link 52 is removed from pin 8| and the assembly 4| is slid along the fork into the truck bed. The longitudinal portions 52 and 53 are spaced so that the circular shaped casing of the assembly 4| will fit partially therebetween and will be held in position as the assembly is pulled therealong.

As can be seen from the foregoing, the loading device enables one person to easily remove the assembly 4| from the casing I4. It is also apparent that the assembly could also be replaced in the casing by reversing the procedural steps. In the illustrated embodiment, the assembly is shown being loaded onto a truck bed but it is to be understood that it could be loaded into any other container. The described loading device enables one person to easily and quickly remove or replace a heavy motor-compressor assembly from a casing. The invention has been described in connection with an air-conditioning unit merely for purposes of illustration and it is to be understood that it could be used for handling a heavy object or piece of machinery.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other changes could be made in the form of the apparatus disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. Having now described the invention, what is claimed is as follows:

1. In a loading device for removing and replacing a vertically elongated casing having a cylindrical contour, a pair of straight longitudinal members, said members disposed in a parallel spaced-apart relationship some distance less than the diameter of said casing, brace means for maintaining said members in said parallel spacedapart relationship so that said casing is slidable along said members when the longitudinal axis of said casing is parallel to said members, an upturned flange on one end of each of said members, fulcrum means mounted to depend from said members substantially closer to the end of each of said members having said flange thereon than to the other end of each of said members for permitting a leverage action of said members about said fulcrum means, a pin engageable with a portion of said casing below the center of gravity thereof, said pin positionable on the upper surface of each of said members in cooperation with each of said flanges so that when a leverage action is applied to said members said pin is pivoted and said casing is raised, a circular strap positionable about said casing above the center of gravity thereof, a U-shaped link positioned about said members between said fulcrum means and said other end of said members and pivotally mounted to said strap so that the upper end of said casing is pivotable about said pin toward said members only.

2. In a loading device for removing and replacing a vertically elongated casing having a cylindrical contour, a pair of straight longitudinal members, said members disposed in a parallel spaced-apart relationship some distance less than the diameter of said casing, brace means for maintaining said members in said parallel spaced-apart relationship so that said casing is slidable along said members when the longitudinal axis of said casing is parallel to said members, an upturned flange on one end of each of said members, fulcrum means comprising two pairs of legs, the upper ends of each of said pair of legs mounted in a spaced-apart relationship to depend from one of said member substantially closer to the end of each of said members having said flange thereon than to the other end of each of said members, the lower ends of each of said pair of legs joined to a web having a concave bearing surface on the underside thereof, whereby said bearing surfaces are positionable upon a convex bearing surface to permit aleverage action of said members, a pin engageable with a portion of said casing below the center of gravity thereof, said pin positionable on the upper surface of each of said members in cooperation with each of said flanges so that when a leverage action is applied to said members said pin is pivoted and said casing is raised, a circular strap positionable about said casing above the center of gravity thereof, a U-shaped link positioned about said members hetween said fulcrum means and said other end of said members and pivotally mounted to said strap so that the upper end of said casing is pivotable about said pin toward said members only.

3. In a loading device for removing and replacing a vertically elongated casing having a cylindrical contour, a pair of straight longitudinal members, said members disposed in a parallel spaced-apart relationship some distance less than the diameter of said casing, a pair of braces mounted between said members for maintaining said members in said parallel spaced-apart relationship so that said casing is slidable along said members when the longitudinal axis of said casing is parallel to said members, an upturned flange on one end of each of said members, fulcrum means consisting of two pairs of legs, the upper ends of each of said pair of legs mounted in a spaced-apart relationship to depend from one of said members substantially closer to the ends of said members having the flanges thereon than to the other ends of said members, the lower ends of each of said pair of legs joined to a web having a concave bearing surface on the under side thereof, a bearing element positionable adjacent said casing, said bearing element having a convex surface upon the upper side thereof, said concave bearing surface of said web engageable with said convex surface of said bearing element whereby a leverage action of said members is permitted, a pin engageable with a portion of said casing below the center of gravity thereof, said pin positionable on the upper surface of each of said members in cooperation with each of said flanges so that when a leverage action is applied to said members said pin is pivoted and said casing is raised, a circular strap positionable about said casing above the center of gravity thereof, a U- shaped link positioned about said members between said fulcrum means and said other end of said members and pivotally mounted to said trap so that the upper end of said casing is pivotable about said pin toward said members only.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 725,828 Davis, Jr. Apr. 21, 1903 852,217 Brust et a1. Apr. 30, 1907 1,587,842 Knox June 8,1926 1,598,413 Armstrong Aug. 31, 1926 1,742,735 Strippel Jan. 7, 1930 

